Sub-inspector robbed at gunpoint

In a crude twist of fate, a sub-inspector of police was thrashed and robbed at gunpoint by four men early Saturday morning.

They also stabbed his friend in the thigh for not handing over to them his wallet immediately. He is being treated at Mallya Hospital and is said to be out of danger.

Girish, 33, attached to the High Grounds police station and currently deputed at the DCP (Central) office, Cubbon Park, left his office after work at around 8 pm on Friday and joined his friend Haridasulu, 36, an employee of the Royal Bank of Scotland in the City, for dinner at Imperial Hotel.

On their way back home, Haridasulu was to drop Girish at his service quarters on Berlie Street and proceed to his house. Girish was at the wheel of his friend’s car.

As they drove through Rhenius Street at around 1:15 am, a biker obstructed their path opposite Richmond Park and picked a quarrel over their “rashly” driven car “sideswiping” his bike.

As Girish argued, three more men arrived on two motorbikes and brandished a countrymade pistol.

Friend stabbed

In his complaint to the police, Girish said the gang fired two rounds at the car steering when he tried to resist them. Unarmed and in mufti, he said he quitely handed over to them two high-end mobile phones and Rs 9,000 in cash.

While Girish sat at the wheel throughout the mugging drama, Haridasulu, who got down from the car, was stabbed in the thigh by one of the four men, before they took away his mobile phone and some cash.

Girish rushed Haridasulu to a nearby private hospital where he was administered first aid and then taken to Mallya Hospital for further treatment.

Dr Kanchan Sanyal, medical superintendent of Mallya Hospital, told Deccan Herald that Haridasulu was presently being treated at the Surgical Intensive Care Unit and his wound was operated upon. He is out of danger.

Ravikanthe Gowda, DCP (Central), said the two rounds fireed by the gang were dummy rounds (no bullets fired). He said a shocked Girish had taken it for real firing.

He said the entire episode had been recorded on the CCTV camera at the Rhenius Street Circle and the police were analysing the footage.Girish remained incommunicado throughout the day.

A case has been registered at the Ashok Nagar police station and two special teams have been formed to nab the suspects.

‘Submission’ leaves cops embarrassed

The mugging of the police sub-inspector by a gang of four has left the police force embarrassed. According to sources, City Police Commissioner Raghavendra H Auradkar held a meeting with senior officials and directed his men to trace the culprits at the earliest.

†“Police are responsible for maintenance of law and order in society and they should infuse confidence in citizens. But incidents such as this easily erode the credibility of the police force. The sub-inspector was surprisingly pliant before a gang of thugs. He did not even try to claim himself to be a cop, flash his ID card that would have left the culprits scoot for cover,” a senior IPS officer said.

The officer said there were two men in the vehicle and they could have done something to scare the muggers away. “The minimum the PSI could have done was to note down the registration number of the bikes. But he did not even get out of the car, and being a trained policeman, he was fooled by dummy firing,” the officer added.

Another officer recounted how a Sikh Army man had pounced on some eve teasers at cantonment railway station a couple of years ago and was stabbed to death. He said the army man was not armed and yet took on the eve teasers.“In situations such as these, it comes down to the man in you,” he rued.